Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Hagen, Free State of Prussia, Germany
About Thomas Wessinghage
- Thomas Wessinghage (born 22 February 1952 in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German former middle- and long-distance runner who won the 1982 European Championships' final over 5000 metres beating the British world-record holder David Moorcroft.
- Because he was already thirty at the time, and had been an international-level runner for a decade, this victory was a long-awaited one for him.
- He admitted that he decided to run the 5,000 metres instead of the 1,500 metres, because he lost to Ovett and Coe so often in the shorter distance.
- The fairly slow pace of the 1982 European Athletics Championships 5,000-metre final favoured Wessinghage, because he was in top form - having set a European record at 2,000 metres shortly before the Championships - and because he was the fastest 1,500-metre runner in the final, having run that distance in 3 minutes 31.6 seconds in 1980.
- Shortly after he started his final sprint with over 250 metres to go, Wessinghage moved into a decisive lead, stretching it into five metres by 4,800 metres and almost doubling it by 4,900 metres (see, for example, "The Thousand Stars of Athletics" / Yleisurheilun tuhat tähteä, written by Matti Hannus and published in Finland in 1983; Pat Butcher, The Perfect Distance: Ovett&Coe: The Record-Breaking Rivalry, London: Weidenfeld&Nicolson, 2004; "The Major Events of Top Sports Until 1982" / Huippu-urheilun suuret tapahtumat vuoteen 1982 asti, published in Finland in 1982; "The Great European Championships Book" / Suuri EM-kirja, published in Finland in 1990; see tommytempo1's video about the race's last two laps on YouTube with the search words "Thomas Wessinghage"). In 1980 he set a German record of 3:31.58 min over 1500 metres which still has not been broken.
- In the same race Steve Ovett from the UK set a world record of 3:31.36 min.
- He was married to former Olympian Ellen Tittel.
- Wessinghage missed a great chance of winning an Olympic medal that year because West Germany joined the United States-led boycott.
- He was unlucky also in the other Olympic years of his competitive career: he was eliminated in the 1,500-metre heats in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, and he got injured in a race before the 1984 Olympics (see Hannus, "The Thousand Stars of Athletics"; "The Big Olympic Book" / Suuri Olympiakirja, written and published by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine's journalists and published in Finland in 1984). In the 1983 inaugural World Athletics Championships, he was among the favourites to win the 5,000-metre title, but for some reason he could not accelerate enough when it mattered the most - during the final lap - despite running at a steady rhythm earlier in the race.
- Accordingly, he dropped from third to sixth during the last lap, and lost to the winner, Ireland's Eamonn Coghlan, by almost four seconds (see, for example, "World Athletics Championships 1983" / Yleisurheilun MM-kisat 1983, written by the "Runner" / Juoksija magazine's journalists and published in Finland in 1983). His last major competitive race was in the 5,000-metre qualifying heats of the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, West Germany.
- In that race, he failed to advance to the final (see, for example, "The Great European Championships Book" / Suuri EM-kirja, published in Finland in 1990).
Read more at Wikipedia
See Also
- Famous People's Birthdays on 22 February, Germany
- Famous People's Birthdays in February, Germany
- Famous university teacher's Birthdays on 22 February, Germany
- Famous university teacher's Birthdays in February, Germany
- Famous long-distance runner's Birthdays on 22 February, Germany
- Famous long-distance runner's Birthdays in February, Germany
- Famous athletics competitor's Birthdays on 22 February, Germany
- Famous athletics competitor's Birthdays in February, Germany
- Famous middle-distance runner's Birthdays on 22 February, Germany
- Famous middle-distance runner's Birthdays in February, Germany